Since ChatGPT came on the scene, companies have been clamoring for generative artificial intelligence, but actually becoming an AI-driven business is more complex than many expected.

SAS Institute Inc. is focused on finding the optimal artificial technique for a customer’s given application, according to Jay Upchurch (pictured), chief information officer at SAS Institute Inc. Rather than jumping straight to gen AI, the data analytics company is taking a more critical look at the situation.

SAS Institute’s Jay Upchurch talks with theCUBE about the company’s position in the AI space.

“We were all enamored with what the capabilities were for gen AI,” Upchurch said. “And so, we started trying to take generative AI and use it to solve every problem that came in front of you. We spent a lot of money, unfortunately, as an industry, chasing problems that were actually probably better served with other types of artificial techniques.”

Upchurch spoke with theCUBE’s Paul Gillin and Scott Hebner at SAS Innovate, during an exclusive broadcast on theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s livestreaming studio. They discussed SAS’s strategy around intelligent decisioning and its position in the AI space. (* Disclosure below.)

Governing an AI-driven ecosystem

Throwing gen AI at the problem is not an option for SAS, which services high-stakes industries such as healthcare, where an inaccurate AI result could have major consequences. Instead, SAS looks at what artificial tool will serve the client best. Customers might want to go straight to agentic AI, Upchurch says, but their data has to be ready.

“We all are in different places,” he explained. “What does your data state look like? Is it well-governed? Is it secure? Also, where’s the direction coming from? … Is it top-down from a [chief executive officer] saying, ‘We’re not going to do anything unless it’s AI-driven?’”

Part of serving each customer is having customizable offerings. The new updates to Viya, SAS’s cloud-based and AI analytics platform, improve AI governance and enable users to build agents that can perform industry-specific tasks, according to Upchurch.

“We love setting the pace of innovation for this industry,” Upchurch said. “Our culture attracts the top talent. Our customers give us inspiration, which feeds that talent and then that drives back into innovation. That’s the flywheel of success for SAS and has been for the last five decades.”

Here’s the complete video interview, part of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of SAS Innovate:

(* Disclosure: TheCUBE is a paid media partner for SAS Innovate. Neither SAS Institute Inc., the sponsor of theCUBE’s event coverage, nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE